Anderson
Accident, January 8, 2003
January 8, 2003 Ken Anderson, Rex Radford, Alan Myler, (camera man) Kurk Jacobs, and three others left Ririe, Idaho and drove to the Palisades Dam.
We unloaded in a bitter cold wind at about 9:30 am, crossed the dam and rode up to Bear Creek, then up Elk Creek. We hit some great slopes and eventually made our way to the top of Big Elk mountain. (10,000 feet) We bailed off the top, crossed under the peak and stopped to analyze which part of the peak would be the best to climb. Rex took off up the mountain on an angle. I climbed about 60 yards behind him in a different track.
All at once the avalanche
was right in front of me. It started about 100 yards above me and the
entire shelf slid. I couldn't stop so I left the gas on and attacked
the moving snow. The power of the fast moving snow and my sled moving
into it was too much and it shot straight up. We did a perfect back flip.
I remember going over and the sled landing on me. It hurt for a second
and I found myself under the fast moving snow. Ripping down the mountain,
I popped up and went under again. I came up and spread myself out on
top of the fast moving large chunks of snow.
I realized at that moment
I was in an avalanche and what would transpire in the next few seconds
could be life or death. I started to swim across the slide to the close
side where my friends were still sitting on their sleds. They were out
of sight very soon. I began to crawl with some success and then the snow
rolled me over again. I pulled the cord. ( I had purchased the AIR BAG
SYSTEM just before Christmas) I thought about pulling the rip cord sooner,
but had refrained because I was mostly on top of the snow as we descended.
I can say that it was a tremendous
comfort having the option to inflate the bag and having the increased
protection. I have been on this mountain many times with motorcycles
and horses. I knew that if I was carried down the steep shelf that I
would be swept down a nasty shoot, very steep and full of big rocks and
trees.
As luck would have it, the avalanche stopped about 30 yards after I pulled the cord. We always wear beacons, carry shovels and probes. My friends were ready with their equipment in case I was buried under the snow. They all mentioned how good it was to see the big orange bag pop up, for they could see exactly where I had stopped. I have been in alot of difficult circumstances in my life of 52 years, but have never felt so totally overpowered. It took me off my sled and down the mountain in just a few seconds.
I have a new respect of the power of sliding snow. The snow conditions this year are the worst we have seen, three feet of light powder, not attached to the hill, and eighteen inches of hard packed and twelve inches more powder on top. Four more times during the day we felt the snow drop and crack under our sleds as we rode out.
The first thing I thought of was that I had used my only cartriage. I have bought a second cartriage since then. The ABS gives you a 98% chance of not being buried. With the conditions this year and the death toll rising, please take a moment to look up and read about the ABS pack on www.akxtreme.net.
Ken Anderson
For correspondence please email at karena@ida.net